A Trusted Thinking Partner for Senior Leaders Navigating Complexity and Change

Helping senior leaders see clearly, lead steadily, and deliver on their mandate without running on fumes.

carolyn ellis “When a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order.”

Ilya Prigogine


The power of coherence as a force for change has stayed with me, and it shapes how I think about leadership, systems, and what a steady, grounded presence can actually do during disruption.

Today’s senior leaders are navigating sustained complexity, competing priorities, and decisions that carry real consequences. Many are expected to provide steadiness and clarity for others, even when the path forward isn’t clear to them yet.

Working with senior leaders as an external sounding board and strategic thinking partner, my focus is helping them make sense of complexity, surface blind spots, and think through decisions with greater clarity and confidence as conditions continue to shift. With more than 30 years of experience across the public, private, and non-profit sectors — including financial services, insurance, government, and municipal organizations — I’ve worked alongside leaders through periods of significant change, uncertainty, and transition.

A Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University grounded my thinking in systems, decision-making, and leadership in complex environments. I continued that learning through integrative coaching certification, training as an Adaptability Quotient practitioner, and deep work in visual facilitation and strategic frameworks through Grove Consultants International, and in organizational and relationship systems coaching through CRR Global.

Leaders I work with often tell me they value having a space where they can think out loud, be fully honest, and explore difficult questions without judgment or performance pressure. They appreciate having an experienced, objective partner who can help them distinguish what truly matters, test assumptions, and see patterns that are difficult to spot from inside the system.

My approach is not to arrive with canned answers or a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, I work alongside leaders, helping them think clearly, trust their judgment, and make decisions they can stand behind, even in uncertain conditions.

My award-winning book “Lead Conversations that Count: How Busy Managers Run Great Meetings,” grew out of years of watching leaders with genuinely good intentions walk out of meetings having left their people less engaged, less aligned, and less confident than when they walked in. The thinking behind it continues to inform my coaching work today, particularly in high-stakes moments where clarity and alignment are hardest to achieve and matter most.

What Feeds My Head

My curiosity tends to run wide and cut deep. I read voraciously across neuroscience, organizational culture, leadership, creativity, and global affairs, always looking for the connections between fields that don’t usually talk to each other. A good book club keeps me honest on fiction too.

What Feeds My Heart

I’m an avid theatre and science fiction fan. As a member of The Riverdale Players, a community musical theatre troupe in Toronto, I get to do work I love while raising funds to support at-risk children and provide teacher training in villages in Africa and in First Nations communities across Canada. I also sing with AltVox, a community choir where the playlist runs straight to rock and roll and pop.

What Feeds My Soul

I’m a mom of three remarkable young adults who have been, and continue to be, my greatest teachers. Living on the shores of Lake Ontario is a gift I don’t take lightly. Daily cold dips in the lake, even in the winter, walking the beach with my dogs, and time in nature keep me honest, keep me humble, and keep me connected to what actually matters.

You haven’t lost your edge. But have you lost your altitude?

5 minutes. 7 questions. Find out where you are and where you need to be leading from.

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